---
title: Terminating SSL
---

import TopLevelAwait from "../shared/top-level-await.mdx"

<TopLevelAwait />

Most production environments use a load balancer or HTTP proxy (such as nginx) to perform SSL termination on behalf of web applications in that environment.

If you're using Apollo Server in an application that must perform its _own_ SSL termination, you can use the `https` module with the [`expressMiddleware` function](../api/express-middleware).

Here's an example that uses HTTPS in production and HTTP in development:

<MultiCodeBlock>

```ts title="index.ts"
import { ApolloServer } from '@apollo/server';
import { ApolloServerPluginDrainHttpServer } from '@apollo/server/plugin/drainHttpServer';
import { expressMiddleware } from '@as-integrations/express5';
import typeDefs from './graphql/schema';
import resolvers from './graphql/resolvers';
import cors from 'cors';
import express from 'express';
import http from 'http';
import https from 'https';
import fs from 'fs';

const configurations = {
  // Note: You may need sudo to run on port 443
  production: { ssl: true, port: 443, hostname: 'example.com' },
  development: { ssl: false, port: 4000, hostname: 'localhost' },
};

const environment = process.env.NODE_ENV || 'production';
const config = configurations[environment];

const server = new ApolloServer({
  typeDefs,
  resolvers,
});
await server.start();

const app = express();
// our express server is mounted at /graphql
app.use(
  '/graphql',
  cors<cors.CorsRequest>(),
  express.json(),
  expressMiddleware(server),
);

// Create the HTTPS or HTTP server, per configuration
let httpServer;
if (config.ssl) {
  // Assumes certificates are in a .ssl folder off of the package root.
  // Make sure these files are secured.
  httpServer = https.createServer(
    {
      key: fs.readFileSync(`./ssl/${environment}/server.key`),
      cert: fs.readFileSync(`./ssl/${environment}/server.crt`),
    },

    app,
  );
} else {
  httpServer = http.createServer(app);
}

await new Promise<void>((resolve) => httpServer.listen({ port: config.port }, resolve));

console.log('🚀 Server ready at', `http${config.ssl ? 's' : ''}://${config.hostname}:${config.port}/graphql`);
```

</MultiCodeBlock>
